News

Welfare and Market Worries Stem from Latest CAP Proposals

29 January 2013

EU – The European Parliament Agricultural Committee CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) reform proposal have been described as disappointing by groups in the dairy sector.

Caution surrounds the Committee’s decision to keep pooling limits of milk low. Dairy leaders have stated that a monitoring of the market without an active regulation of produced volumes by the European Food Price Monitoring Tool is insufficient.

The European Milk Board (EMB) said: “Unfortunately members of cooperatives will still not be able to claim information on the milk price before delivery. Moreover, the insufficient pooling limits for producer organisations (3,5 per cent on European and 33 per cent on national level) were confirmed.”

Romuald Schaber, EMB President, added: "Although a few promising thoughts like a voluntary supply constraint were adopted, the Committee did not grasp the opportunity to take decisive steps towards limiting the overproduction on European milk markets.

“In order to do this, it would have been necessary to put in place permanent and flexible mechanisms to regulate the market, like a European Monitoring Agency for example.”

The potential legislation to be adopted in Brussels was also met with mixed opinions by Euro Group for Animals.

Eurogroup has expressed disappointment at what it sees as the Committee still viewing cross-compliance as burdensome and not as a tool to improve compliance with animal welfare rules.

Another qualm highlighted by Eurogroup was an imperfection was the Committee’s decision to keep export refunds. They have said this means that in future subsidies will continue to be paid to export live pure-bred breeding cattle to third countries.